With prices of crude oil products soaring between the rooftops and beyond the clouds, motorists and commuters are likely to set their sights even keep their fingers crossed on anything that promises relief for hemorrhaged budgets. Last time I paid jeepney fare, 'twas P14 for 4 kilometers and all signs point to a stiffer fare that can pinch my pockets.
Take the case of a horror movie staple— zombies. As early as the 1930s, certain witch doctors cum labor dealers in Haiti and Martinique made piles of cash from tractable work gangs that they hired out to cane growers. Those workers slaved nearly ‘round the clock, in fair or foul weather, hardly slept or rested, and subsisted on food more fit for pigs.They were drugged with a powerful anesthetic derived from certain species of toads and the deadly puffer fish.
So we’re told ages back that by some unknown means an aswang grows wings, easily takes to the air, and does airborne surveillance and probably easy loop-the-loops, any such aerobatics. This malevolent creature can snatch full-grown men and children, so we were warned again and again. And it was bruited about that they had tubular tongues longer than what it takes to spread scuttlebutt or gossip.
Truth is, there’s less traffic up there where prices of crude oil products have flown beyond the reach of motorists and commuters alike.